Yuki Onna
by Open Casket Ceremony
Summary: An extremely brief one-shot in which Ichigo compares Hitsugaya to a yuki-onna, a snow spirit of Japanese folklore. Oneshot, IchiHitsu. Definetely NOT my best work...


Author's Note: A "yuki-onna" (lit. "snow woman") is a snow spirit in Japanese mythology that is characterized by inhuman beauty, pale skin, and is associated with snow, ice, and winter. They are thought to be the souls of those who died somewhere cold or during an ice/snow storm. As the stories go, they are not exactly "good" spirits, as they are told to use their beauty to lure unsuspecting victims, particularly young men, to their deaths. Being the occult freak I am, I was reading this book about supernatural sightings and phenomenon and they had this little thing on Japanese folklore and all these random things about demons and stuff, so I instantly thought of Hitsugaya when I read about the "yuki-onna," and the part about the "unsuspecting young man" led me to make the IchiHitsu connection. Heehee.

I'm actually not too fond of this one-shot. It kind of sucks, in my opinion...

Told in Ichigo's POV.

* * *

They say you are a shinigami, a soul reaper. And you're the juuban tai taichou, to boot.

I know that's a true statement, but whenever I'm with you, I sometimes end up telling myself that you're something else, something different. "Shinigami" in no way justifies your glacial beauty and oddly, the way I find myself attracted to your painfully icy demeanor.

So I'll just say what I know and what I think.

I remember a really long time ago, my dad told me a story, trying to scare me. He told about these spirits called "yuki-onna," beautiful ghosts that reside anywhere cold or snowy. They're supposed to be really beautiful and they're supposed to invoke the very thoughts of winter into one's mind. My dad's stories about these yuki-onna always gave me the chills. He was actually just trying to scare me into not going out in cold weather so I wouldn't get sick, but honestly, Toshiro, whenever I'm near you, I always feel the same chill I'd feel when he told me the stories.

First of all, to be blunt, you're beautiful.

You're the most beautiful creature I've ever seen in my entire life, shinigami, human, or whatever. No one can match your cold grace and your icy beauty. I love to run my hands through your snow-white hair, though it irritates you. I like to think that I can make a snowman out of your hair if I wanted to. And your eyes, they are simply captivating. It's like looking into the depths of an arctic ocean that has been frozen over for centuries. I don't even know how to describe their color. "Teal" is too simple. "Aquamarine" is too nautical. "Cerulean" lacks the sharp ice that I can't put my finger on. The point is, you are just beautiful, and there is no other way to say it.

Your face, too, is beautiful. Somewhere between childhood and your teenage years, it holds a bewildering innocence, and yet, it is contradicted by a maddening maturity that I could never hope to achieve. You have the most precious cheeks ever; they are pale yet somehow rosy and baby-like, they are just asking to be pinched and your cold, cold, oh-so-cold lips are simply begging to be kissed raw.

And then there is your skin. Whenever I see your bare skin, if only for a moment, the primitive instinct takes over me. I'm sorry, and I'm a little ashamed, to say that I feel all hot inside and I desperately want to pounce on you when your black kimono slips to reveal your bare shoulders, or when I catch a glimpse of your slender legs, or even when I somehow manage to see your bare back slipping into your black garments. (I swear, I was _so_ not secretly watching you dress this morning.) In short, your skin is pale, so pale, just like your hair, and it is softer and more luxurious than snow to the touch.

Second of all, there is your history to consider.

Yuki-onna are the spirits of those who died in the cold, dad told me.

I believe you once mentioned that you think you died, or will die, on your plain of ice. Isn't that cold? Isn't that already a reason in itself for me to think, "Toshiro is really something, isn't he? He's got to be a yuki-onna, right?"

And thirdly, you captivate me like no other.

Your beauty, your words, everything about you, it all simply draws me nearer to you. You reel me in like a helpless fish on a hook, and to be frank, there's nothing I can do at all to stop you. Every second I spend with you isn't enough. I want more and more, and I find myself going crazy over you and thinking about you twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. It's almost as if you're luring me in against my free will. I'm not saying that that's a bad thing, because really, I love being with you, but it frightens me that I have no power over myself whenever you're around.

I am the helpless victim at your mercy,

I've been told that you have a heart of ice.

I don't believe people when they say those things about you, because I know you can do better, and you have. There's no way you are a yuki-onna, because I know you are not leading me to my death, but I can't help but think sometimes...

I know I'm probably being paranoid, but day by day, you're getting colder and colder.

And you're only getting more and more beautiful in my eyes, if such a thing is possible. It scares me, that I want to be with you more and more and I'm getting less of it more and more.

So, Hitsugaya Toshiro, I have a question for you.

I don't expect a direct answer, because you never seem to give me any of those.

I just want honesty.

I'm not going to ask you if you're a yuki-onna, because that's just me being stupid and thinkin about some old stories.

I just want to know...

...Am I being lured by you into heartbreak?


End file.
